The Ring at the Bottom of Lake Hylia
by TragicMagic14
Summary: He didn't belong here, not around all these sparkling celebrities and nobles and their fine clothing and jewels. Not him, being the penniless knight-in-training with a title that no longer existed. He hadn't even been invited to her wedding. Post OoT. Post TP. Zelink.


**H-hey guys! Long time, no see, huh? **

**I apologize if any of you were hoping for a new chapter of one of my multichapter stories, but I have a little oneshot here:**** an incredibly sad OoT Zelink thing. I know I've been neglectful with my stories, but please know that I am not trying to abandon them or anything. I'm beginning to believe that I am a night owl-so I am most productive during the nighttime-and with school waking me up at 6:30 every morning, it doesn't allot very much time for me to write when I am most creative-hence my slowness for updating. **

**Again, sorry it's not an update but at least this is confirmation that I am not, in fact, dead. So yeah.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>He didn't know what he was doing at her wedding.<p>

Link sat crouched in the very back corner of the temple, dressed as best as he could manage in his poverty. Not that it mattered how he was dressed; he had hidden himself behind layers upon layers of the large curtains, which fringed around each and every of the stained-glass windows that scattered around the temple. They shed the marble room in a kaleidoscope of rosy colours, leaving the ceremony to look as if it were taken straight from a fairytale. Zelda didn't even notice him there as she walked down the aisle on her father's arm, clutching a bouquet of white roses and lilies to her chest. She wore an unreadable expression across her delicate features.

He didn't belong here, not around all these sparkling celebrities and nobles and their fine clothing and jewels. Not him, being the penniless knight-in-training with a title that no longer existed. He hadn't even been _invited _to the wedding. He'd just shown up at the temple where the crowds gathered, celebrating the princess's union with Prince Montgomery of Labrynna. And somehow, someway, he'd managed to slip into the building undetected by the amateur 'guards' employed by the king.

He watched her, his princess… his love. His stomach seemed to rip inside out upon seeing her. She was probably the most beautiful she'd ever been; her golden hair piled atop her head in a complex swirl of ringlets, her creamy skin smooth and blemish-free, her solemn blue eyes shining in her lovely face, and her slender, graceful body draped in a long, elegant wedding gown that made her glow like the angel he knew she was. It physically _hurt _to see her so achingly beautiful and to know full and well that she was not doing so for him.

But the question of why, _why_ he was torturing himself by attending the wedding of the woman he loves when he is not the man standing at the end of the altar, still hung before him unanswered. He wasn't so sure himself. Perhaps it was morbid curiosity. Perhaps he needed to know whether what they had was just a fling or an infatuation on his part. Or perhaps… perhaps he just needed to find closure.

It had been exactly three months, a week and six days since the last time they'd seen each other.

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><p><em>Link was in the middle of chopping up lumber in front of his cottage when a large, all-white steed had clopped onto his property, a feminine rider in a long, richly-coloured cloak perched upon its back. He knew immediately who the rider was, and lodged his axe into a nearby log. With a smile, he went to go greet his lover. When he approached her horse, the princess all but threw herself onto him, toppling the pair onto the leafy ground. <em>

_He was dazed, staring down at the sprawled form of Zelda as she buried her face in his chest. She was shaking, prompting him to blink confusedly and wrap his arms around her quivering back. It took him a moment to realize that her body was rocked with silent sobs. _

_"Zel…?" He murmured. "Love? What's wrong?" _

_She had rubbed her tears into his tunic before lifting her head to meet his gaze with watery blue eyes. He hated seeing her cry, and gently brush away her tears with his lips, whispering words of comfort all the while. _

_Finally, his princess seemed to calm down enough to lift a shaky hand in front of his face._

_His heart turned to ice._

_Upon her pale, slender ring finger, lied a golden ring adorned with a large, flashy diamond. An engagement ring, and he hadn't given it to her. _

_Carefully, he took her hand in his and tapped on the ring, as if he hoped it were an illusion that would shatter at the slightest touch. A feeling of deep, aching sadness filled him when it didn't, and stayed quite real upon her slim finger. They'd been discussing it for weeks; the pressure Zelda was receiving from her father's council about marriage. Her father had been entertaining the idea of her arranged marriage for a while, but hadn't given his full verdict on whether he would force her to do it or not. _

_Link guessed he'd finally arrived on his decision._

_"H-how?" he choked out. "When did this—?" _

_Zelda sniffled. "Just this morning," she said sadly. "My f-father called me down and… and h-he just handed me _this_! He said he found me a 'perfect husband' and that were getting married in a few months!" _

_After those words spilled clumsily out of her lips, Zelda collapsed into his chest in a fit of tears. "He didn't even _ask_ me!" she cried. "He just told me it was happening, and didn't listen to a single one of my arguments! I didn't even get a choice!"_

_Link's heart throbbed with pain as he stared up into the dreary clouds that hung above them. How… could this be happening to them? Why did the world want to take her away from him?_

_"So…" He swallowed, fighting off the tightening in his throat. "Does… does that mean this is it for us?" _

_Zelda was silent._

_"It… It doesn't, right?" He asked her, sitting up and pulling her up with him. _

_The princess remained quiet, her teary blue eyes flitting away from his in silent admittance. _

_"Please…" He plead, cupping her face and forcing her to look at him. "Tell me that doesn't mean the end of us… tell me you aren't leaving me!"_

_She took a deep breath, and swiped at the last of her tears. "…I wanted to be the one to tell you…" She whispered. "Impa offered to deliver the message but I…" Her eyes welled up once more. "…I wanted to tell you myself."_

_He felt numb as he dropped her face. She… she was just giving up. On them. On him. "We can't fight back?" He breathed, the words catching halfway in his throat. _

_The princess in his lap shook her head, bursting into a fresh wave of tears. "He-he'll give my throne away to my cousin if I refuse him! I know he will, he's already threatened to! He's never had any love for me! Never!" She wailed miserably. "A father who did wouldn't dream of doing this to his own kin!"_

_He wanted to ask her to run off with him. So what if the throne went to her cousin? The two of them had sacrificed enough for this dammed world—didn't they at least deserve happiness? At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to turn his back on Hyrule and run off with the woman he adored. Let the goddesses solve their own problems for once. But he knew she'd never agree… much as she loved him, the country always came first, no matter what. She would never abandon it, not even for him. It was selfish of him to expect her to drop what she'd been preparing her _whole life _for just for him._

_Still, he couldn't help but try…_

_"Run away with me," He suddenly plead, pressing his face to her hair to hide the tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. "Marry me. We could go deep into the forest and live off the land—I'll even build a little cottage for us, and I'll teach you how to cook and hunt and farm. Nobody would ever find us, I would make sure of that. All you have to do was say yes."_

_He already knew her answer before she even said it. _

_"I can't do that, Link." She whispered, and he could feel her tears soaking through his shirt. "My cousin… he's frivolous and selfish. He would run this country into the ground in a matter of months. I…I can't just abandon Hyrule like that."_

_Even though he knew she'd refuse, it didn't hurt any less. Link didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. He felt lost, stripped of meaning… _hallow, _as it truly sunk in that this was it… They were done. All those nights lying under the stars together, all those moments when they'd catch each other's eye and something would light up within them, all those lazy evenings when she snuck him into the castle library to read together… gone. These things that had meant the world to him and her would fade into the past, becoming nothing more than distant memories before disappearing all together._ _The goddesses seemed to want to take everything important from him; his parents, his somewhat normal life with the Kokiri, and now, the love of his life. It was as if he weren't allowed prolonged happiness, only short little bursts of it to be snatched away as soon as he became too comfortable. _

_"I know…" He murmured. "I know, but I…" He what? He didn't know what he was going to do without her. She was his rock, his light—no one else really understood what he'd been through the way she did, not even the other sages. And now he had to live without his light? Without his rock? Was that even living?_

_With a deep, shuddering breath, the once-hero leaned forward and pulled his lover into one last embrace, resting his chin atop her blond head. _

_"Goodbye, my princess…"_

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><p>Link made it through most of the wedding well enough. He was even able to stay through the vows—though it was difficult to see the woman he loved promise another man her eternal faithfulness. But he couldn't… he just <em>couldn't <em>stay to watch the kiss. Even he didn't have the courage for that.

He sneakily fled the temple through the nearest open window he could find, not daring to look back for fear that he'd find her smiling. Selfish as it was, he didn't want her to move on. He wanted always to be in her heart; in the same way he knew she'd always remain in his. He couldn't bear it if… if this was it. If what he'd thought they'd had was nothing. If she'd already fallen for her new husband, leaving him behind in the past.

At first he'd just wanted out of the temple, but even outside, all he heard was celebrations of Princess Zelda's marriage. Confetti and cheering filled the air. Women gushed over the beautiful ceremony, and the Princess' dress. Children threw flower-petals and rice. It took every single ounce of his self-control not to whirl on the crowd and scream at them to _just shut up! _That his life was _over _because of this _goddess-damned marriage!_ Instead, he squared his shoulders and pushed through the crowd, burying his feelings deep down.

But being out of Castletown wasn't enough; he could still hear the cheering, the music. The celebration that tore his heart apart. He got on Epona's back and coaxed her to clop as fast as she could go, not stopping until he reached the rocky cliffs of Gerudo Valley. He could see one of the Gerudo guards, staring at him from her post at the other side of the rickety wooden bridge. She watched him with a guarded expression, tensing as he numbly slid himself off of his auburn steed and made his way to the bridge. She knew exactly who he was; Nabooru had made sure all the Gerudo knew of her little friend Link who'd taken down King Dodongo and the virus affecting Lord Jabu Jabu. They respected him, though they never seemed to understand why he decided to live in Hyrule instead of with them.

He stared at the grand waterfall flowing in front of him and let his eyes wander down to the churning waters below, his hand reaching into the back-pocket of his trousers. His fingers brushed a small metal box, and it felt almost as if the surface burned his skin. With quaking fingers, he pulled out the box and stared at it until he felt tears prick the backsides of his eyes.

…He'd planned it out so well. He was going to take her to Lake Hylia for a picnic, where they'd stay there until the stars emerged. And when that happened, he was going to fall to one knee and ask her if she could accept him as her husband. He had everything ready; all her favorite foods packed up in a little wicker basket, a new stained-glass lantern, a brand new quilt to lay on… and then the ring. He'd been saving up for _months _to afford that ring. Although it still wasn't as nice as something a foreign prince would've given her, he'd hoped that the effort he'd gone through to get it would matter more to Zelda.

But that was exactly three months, a week and six days ago.

Now, his dinky little ring he worked so hard to buy for her was nothing more than a bitter reminder of his Zelda. His Zelda who had married someone else instead of him.

He almost wanted to let out a sharp, brittle laugh. It was _so ironic, _wasn't it? He'd gone through great lengths to get this dammed ring, he'd gotten it custom-made and engraved with a special message. He'd even asked for an extra durable, reinforced metal box to hold it—which only added to the bill he was already scrounging to pay—so that he couldn't do something to break or lose it. All that work, all those months of saving; only to realize the very day he planned to give it to her, that it was all for absolutely nothing. A useless waste of time, money and effort. He'd lost his life savings, his best friend, and the love of his life in one fell swoop.

His heart clenched painfully in his chest, and his hand did the same over the box. It seemed to be mocking him, blurrily reflecting his own miserable reflection back at him.

With a cry of rage, he hurled the little box as hard as he could at the waterfall before him. It flew and disappeared into the crystalline rushing water. Gone, as if it had never even existed in the first place. For a moment he stared at the waterfall, breathing heavily as his body shook with violent tremors.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Gerudo guard slowly retreating to give him some privacy—or perhaps inform Nabooru that her friend Link was standing on the bridge, having an emotional breakdown. But he paid her no mind though, and slowly sunk to his trembling knees. He braced his hands on the floorboards of the bridge, and ducked his head, golden hair splaying over his eyes.

And for the first time since he could remember, he cried.

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><p>Zelda couldn't believe she managed to make it through the ceremony without bursting into tears at the altar, or flicking the ring off of her finger like it was made of squirming maggots, but she did. Though not for long, as the very moment she was alone on an outdoor balcony, she found herself silently sobbing with a gloved hand slapped over her mouth.<p>

Her other hand held a delicate glass of champagne, which was currently splashing out of the glass and soaking through her glove because of how much her hand trembled. She let her fingers go slack, and the glass plummeted to the floor, shattering into tiny shards and the champagne splashed through the bottom of her dress. Her wedding dress.

She sobbed harder, barely able to contain her wails as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

She couldn't do this. The castle was so filled with Link's presence; she couldn't walk _anywhere_ without remembering him. The gardens they first met, the halls they snuck down together, the library where she taught him to read, her bedchambers where they shared their first kiss… every single nook and cranny of the castle reminded her of him. Even the moon and the stars was a reminder of her love and best friend, and how she could no longer be with him.

The newly married princess laid her forehead on the cold stone railing in front of her, her heart aching and her tears flowing endlessly.

The only thing she had to hope for now was to wake up from this nightmare, but deep down, she knew she never would.

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><p>"What do you think Ralis wishes to speak with us about?" Princess Zelda wondered out loud as she and Link approached Zora's Domain.<p>

He frowned in thought, and then shrugged. "Dunno. He didn't really say, but hinted it was something we'd be interested in."

They'd taken the shortcut through Hyrule field —which had finally been cleared of the boulders blocking it by a couple of Link's bombs—to the Zoran habitat. To Link's surprise, Zelda had been thrilled about it. She'd practically yanked his arm from its socket, as she dragged him through the tunnel to the sound of rushing water. Not that Link minded much—her touch was never unwelcome.

The princess yawned and stretched, her light brown hair flowing around her lovely face in the warm breeze. "I suppose I don't mind," She said with a smile the practically stole his breath away. "It's always a pleasure to leave the castle every now and then."

The young hero scratched the back of his neck and looked away so she wouldn't catch the heat filling his cheeks. He'd been shocked at how casual and almost up-beat Zelda could be when she wasn't in what he liked to call "Princess Mode". When he'd met her as a wolf, she'd been in full Princess Mode, and he'd assumed that was just the way she always was. He couldn't have been more wrong about her. She was curious and brilliant, radiant as the sun at times. It hadn't taken long before she'd caught and captured his heart.

The pair of teens stepped into Ralis' throne room, both a little awed by its majesty (despite the fact that both of them having visited before many times). And at the crown of the room, sat little Ralis upon his much-too-large throne. Upon seeing the princess and the hero, he smiled, cocking his head.

"Princess Zelda, Hero Link." He greeted.

Zelda curtsied elegantly. "Prince Ralis," She said in her cool, respectful Princess Voice.

Link bowed his head respectfully.

But the young prince would have none of it, and waved a finned hand about dismissively. "No need for that," He said. "I owe Link here my life. If anything, I should bow to him!"

Zelda straightened herself, dark blue eyes gleaming in a way that meant Princess Mode was currently switched back off.

"One of my people has found something you two might be interested in seeing," The Zoran prince said, as one of his guards handed him a small, square object. He then waved Link and Zelda over, moving the object in his hands.

The princess and hero obeyed, both more intrigued with what the prince had found than either would ever fully acknowledge. As they approached, they realized that Ralis held a small, heavily-rusted box.

"One of my people makes a living off of searching for lost objects in Lake Hylia," The prince explained, as Link and Zelda stared at the box in confusion. "While doing so, she found this buried deep in the mud. It's likely quite old."

"It's… a box?" Link finally asked, meeting Ralis' eyes confusedly.

The prince shook his head, and with a flick of his other hand, flipped the thing open. Then he offered it to Zelda, who took it gingerly, as if she worried it would disintegrate in her delicate hands. Link leaned over her shoulder to gaze at what lied inside.

"It's… a ring?" Zelda questioned, her brow furrowing cutely.

"It's engraved." Ralis said knowingly. "Pick it up and look at it."

Zelda did as she was told, and gasped. "Link, look!" She exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "It says my name!"

She rolled the simple golden ring between her fingers, and found another word.

"And my name!" Link said with disbelief, leaning in real close to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, his name joined Zelda's scrawled in tiny print across the surface of the ring in Hylian.

"…_A love that will last forever." _Zelda continued reading, the slightest bit of blush filling her cheeks.

Link mirrored her embarrassment, covering his burning face with his hand, and distancing himself from Zelda so she couldn't feel the heat radiating off of him.

Zelda glanced up at the Zora Prince once her blush finally faded. "You say this is very old?"

Ralis nodded. "It would have to be," He said matter-of-factly. "I've had it looked into; that type of metal that the box is made of had been over-mined and disappeared from Hyrule's market hundreds of years ago. You can still find it in some very old antiques, but you won't find anything new made from the stuff. That box must be somewhere between two and three hundred years old."

Zelda stared back down at the ring. "…that's pretty amazing," She said softly, turning it around with her forefinger and thumb. "I wonder what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Link inquired, finally building up the courage to face her again.

"Their story, I mean." Zelda explained, gently setting the ring back down into its box. "How did this ring, which looks to be an engagement ring, end up in the bottom of Lake Hylia? What occurred between them for that to happen?"

Link frowned. "Yeah, I… it may not have been such a happy story… I mean, their ring ended up in Lake Hylia."

"I hope you're wrong," Zelda said softly. "But you're probably right."

Link nodded. "I hope I'm wrong too." He admitted.

With one last look of melancholy curiosity from both Link and Zelda, the princess snapped the little metal box shut, concealing the mysterious ring once more.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Feel free to drop in a review or a favourite if you enjoyed! :)<strong>


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